Inflammation is the first response of animals to infection or tissue damage. Sparus aurata (Perciformes) was the first fish species shown to possess histamine-containing mast cells at mucosal tissues. We report a separation protocol for obtaining highly enriched (over 95% purity) preparations of fish mast cells in high numbers (5-20 million mast cells per fish). The peritoneal exudate of S. aurata is composed of lymphocytes, acidophilic granulocytes, macrophages and mast cells. We separated the lymphocyte fraction through discontinuous density gradient centrifugation...

OBJECTIVES: To describe surgical treatment of herniation of the gravid uterus through the mesoduodenum, displacement of the descending duodenum around the gravid uterus, and concurrent herniation of the small and large intestines into the omental bursa in a cow. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical report. ANIMAL: Three-year-old, five-month-pregnant Swiss Braunvieh cow. METHODS: Repositioning of the displaced uterus and descending duodenum without transection and anastomosis of the duodenum was performed through a right flank laparotomy...

BACKGROUND: The full Mini Nutritional Assessment (full-MNA) and short-form MNA (MNA-SF) are simple and effective nutrition screening scales, but their usefulness for identifying patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD) at risk of protein-calorie malnutrition (PEM) has not been investigated. OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed to investigate the convergent validity of the full-MNA and MNA-SF for identifying patients with PD at risk of PEM. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study...

Laboratory maintenance of the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii is generally done by passage in mice, in vitro propagation in fibroblasts, or cryopreservation of peritoneal exudates from mice infected with T. gondii. To explore alternative techniques for preserving laboratory T. gondii tachyzoites, we propose a new method of freezing tissues from infected mice. The effect of storage of T. gondii tissue tachyzoites in two different cryoprotectant combinations and at two different temperatures was studied. The liver and spleen tissues, and peritoneal exudates from mice infected with RH-GFP strain of T...

BACKGROUND: Mortality and morbidity are hardly documented in the white veal industry, despite high levels of antimicrobial drug use and resistance. The objective of the present study was to determine the causes and epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in dairy, beef and crossbred white veal production. A total of 5853 calves, housed in 15 production cohorts, were followed during one production cycle. Causes of mortality were determined by necropsy. Morbidity was daily recorded by the producers...

As more groups investigate the role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in promoting the growth of primary tumors and distant tumor metastases, it is imperative to ensure the accurate detection and quantification of MDSC immunosuppression ex vivo. MDSCs are defined by their ability to suppress immune responses. Although different in vitro culture conditions have been used to study MDSCs, the effect of different culture conditions on MDSC immunosuppression is unknown. We therefore isolated MDSCs from the lungs and spleens of 4T1 murine mammary tumor-bearing mice and assayed MDSC-mediated suppression of T cell responses under different culture conditions...

We injected alloxan (100 mg/kg b.w.) in mice (Mus musculus) intra-peritoneally to induce hyperglycemia and divided the hyperglycemic mice into two sub-groups: one was fed ethanolic extract of Syzygium jambolanum (EESJ) (20 mg/kg b.w. for 8 weeks) and the other 85% ethyl alcohol ("vehicle"-control). Chromatographic and mass spectroscopic studies of EESJ revealed two principal components, one corresponding to an iridoid glycoside. We estimated blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, glucokinase, and fructosamine and analyzed the expression of marker proteins like insulin, GLUT2, and GLUT4...

BACKGROUND: A liver-derived protein, fetuin-A, was first purified from calf fetal serum in 1944, but its potential role in lethal systemic inflammation was previously unknown. This study aims to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of hepatic fetuin-A expression during lethal systemic inflammation (LSI), and investigated whether alterations of fetuin-A levels affect animal survival, and influence systemic accumulation of a late mediator, HMGB1. METHODS AND FINDINGS: LSI was induced by endotoxemia or cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in fetuin-A knock-out or wild-type mice, and animal survival rates were compared...

Lactobacillus gasseri OLL 2716 promotes the elimination of Helicobacter pylori and is utilized in yogurts that are specifically labeled as health foods. On the other hand, milk whey fermented by Propionibacterium freudenreichii ET-3, which increases the numbers of Bifidobacterium, is effective for intestinal disorders. We previously demonstrated that oral administration of L. gasseri and P. freudenreichii fermentation metabolites (LP-FM) improved calf intestinal microflora and reduced the incidence of diarrhea...

Brucellosis is an infectious disease with high impact on innate immune responses which is induced partly by its DNA. In the present study the potential differences of wild type and patients isolates versus attenuated vaccine strains in terms of cytokines, ROS and NO induction on murine splenocytes and peritoneal macrophages were investigated. This panel varied in base composition and included DNA from B. abortus, B. melitensis, B.abortus strain S19 and melitensis strain Rev1, as attenuated live vaccine. Also we included Escherichia coli DNA, calf thymus DNA (a mammalian DNA), as controls...

Four cases in cattle of omental herniation through an acquired omental rent are described. Clinical signs were indistinguishable from other causes of mechanical ileus and exploratory laparotomy was necessary to establish a diagnosis. In all cases a variably sized portion of jejunal loops was obstructed in an omental rent in the deep layer of the greater omentum. In two cases simple reduction was possible, and in one case incision of the hernial ring was necessary before reduction could be performed. Resection was necessary only in a calf, in which the incarceration was complicated by severe abomasal distension and local peritonitis...

Leishmania (L.) infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi) is a dimorphic protozoan parasite that lives in promastigote and amastigote form in its sandfly vector and mammalian hosts, respectively. Here, we describe an in vitro culture system for the generation of a pure population of L. infantum axenic amastigotes after only 4 days incubation in culture medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, human urine, L: -glutamine, and HEPES at 37 masculineC (pH 5.5). Ultrastrutural analysis and infection assays in two macrophage populations (Kupffer cells (KUP) and peritoneal macrophages (PM)) infected with axenic amastigotes demonstrated that they maintained morphological and biochemical (A2 expression) features and a similar infection pattern to tissue-derived L...

BACKGROUND: When a severe peritonitis outbreak in semi-domesticated reindeer was noticed in 2003 in Finland, the concerned industry urged immediate preventive actions in order to avoid detrimental effects of S. tundra and further economical losses. A research programme was swiftly initiated to study S. tundra and its impact on the health and wellbeing of reindeer. METHODS: The ultimate aim of this study was to test the efficacy of different treatment regimes against S...

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to assess severity of injury of the peripheral nervous system of chronic renal failure patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) diagnosed based on the electrophysiological testing as well as to establish the effect of adequate dialysis dose on peripheral nerve functioning. The study was performed in 53 patients (21 males, 32 females) on CAPD for mean 16.9 +/- 14.4 months and 68 patients (46 males, 22 females) on HD for mean 47...